Compared
Dwar and Opal
Two different ideas of a limit. Here they are side by side.
Opal blocks distracting apps on a schedule or a limit and lets you out when the time is up. Dwar keeps the apps you pick shut, during the hours you pick, until your steps, a workout or your rings say you’ve moved. Everything in the Opal column comes from Opal’s own App Store page, read on the day shown.
| What | Dwar | Opal |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Keeping the apps you choose shut until you’ve moved | Blocking distracting apps and websites with rules: scheduled blocks, app limits and focus sessions |
| How it holds | Apple’s Screen Time shield, with Check again and Close as the only buttons | A block you can leave through a waiting room, a timer or by waiting out the limit; Deep Focus “won’t let you cancel or bypass at all” |
| What opens the apps | Steps, distance, a workout, exercise minutes, active calories, stand hours, daylight, Activity rings, or a score read through the WHOOP API | Time: the end of a session, a timer or a wait. Its page names no health data, steps, workouts or rings |
| Hours | Any hours you choose, per gate | Scheduled blocks and app limits |
| Commitment mode | Hard mode: longer pauses earned by moving, a day to switch off | Deep Focus, “only available for premium users” |
| Account | None | Its page describes signing in |
| Price | Free with one gate; Pro $0.99 a month or $5.99 a year | Subscriptions from $4.99 a week; $19.99 a month; $99.99 a year |
| Platforms | iPhone | iPhone, iOS 18 or later |
Checked against Opal’s App Store page on 2026-10-08. Tell us if it has changed.